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Model of red sprites due to intracloud fractal lightning discharges
Author(s) -
Valdivia J. A.,
Milikh G. M.,
Papadopoulos K.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/98rs02201
Subject(s) - fractal , lightning (connector) , meteorology , environmental science , computational physics , electromagnetic pulse , physics , atmospheric sciences , optics , power (physics) , mathematics , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics
A new and improved model of red sprites is presented. Emphasis is placed on accounting for the puzzling observation of the spatial structure in the emissions. The model relies on the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) fields created by a horizontal lightning discharge and includes the observed fractal structure of such discharges in the computation of the EMP power density. It is shown that the model can account for the observed spatial structure of the red sprites while reducing the typical charge required to approximately 100 C.